# From Philosophy PHD to Palantir CEO: Alex Karp's Unconventional Path

*Joe Lonsdale Clips* · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Krmgiv-Xmg

## Summary

Alex Karp explains why he went to law school and then left it for a philosophy PhD in Germany, and how arguing with Peter Thiel at Stanford shaped his path. He describes studying under Habermas and encountering thinkers like Niklas Luhmann, and realizing he had abilities as a builder that pure academics lacked. He concludes that world-class academics could materially advance institutions even if they wouldn't run a company like Palantir well themselves.

## Key points

- Karp went to law school thinking he could help people, but discovered it is hard to help people when you have no interest in what you're doing.
- He met Peter Thiel at Stanford law school in the same dorm and section, and spent his time reading books and arguing political issues with him.
- He chose to do his PhD in Germany rather than the US to avoid three years of regurgitation in a master's program.
- He studied in Habermas's colloquium, had a falling out, and finished his PhD with someone else.
- Proximity to world-class thinkers like Luhmann, Habermas and Apel made him realize he had abilities as a builder that they lacked.
- He says many of the best business decisions happen for the wrong reasons, like his reason for going to law school.
- He believes thinkers like Luhmann could materially advance an institution, though they might need someone below them to interact with people.
- He describes Niklas Luhmann as probably the most important thinker of social thought post World War II, known for systems theory.

## Notes

### Law School and Meeting Peter Thiel
- Karp went to law school believing he could help people with a law degree, but quickly found it hard to help people when you have no interest in what you're doing.
- He frames this as an example of his theory that many of the best business decisions happen for the wrong reasons.
- At Stanford he met Peter Thiel in the same dorm and section; they argued constantly about political issues, with Thiel leaning right and Karp leaning classically, but not completely, left.
- He spent his time at law school reading books and running into people to argue with, Peter being the primary one.
- Stanford, which he calls the premier tech university in the world, is what ultimately connected everyone involved.

### Choosing a Philosophy PhD in Germany
- Unhappy at law school, he decided to do what he wanted: write about Germanic post-war thought.
- He avoided a US PhD because it would have required a master's degree and three years of regurgitation, which he compares to a "three-year bid" he had already served.
- He went to study with Habermas, joined his colloquium, then had a falling out and finished his PhD with someone else, though not on bad terms.

### Discovering He Was a Builder
- Writing his PhD, he found the stakes were low and the personalities difficult.
- Encounters with world-class thinkers—meeting Luhmann, watching debates between Habermas and Apel—showed him he had certain abilities they didn't: being a builder.
- He realized that dedicating himself to reading and writing all day was not what he wanted, and that these academics didn't have the right personality for building.

### Respect for World-Class Academics
- He praises Niklas Luhmann as probably the most important thinker of social thought post World War II, who wrote more than most people read in a lifetime and developed systems theory.
- Working with people at that level, "the gears are different."
- He believes such people could materially advance an institution, though they might need someone below them to interact with people, and wouldn't necessarily build or run Palantir well.

## Transcript

[00:00] You went to law school and you got a PhD in philosophy. Why why law school and philosophy? >> I mean, law school was I I thought I could actually help people with a law degree. What I discovered quickly is hard to help people if you have no interest in what you're doing. So, [laughter] um I that was this weird thing where um a lot in business, one of my theories is a lot of the best decisions happen for the wrong reasons. Like I had a reason for going to law school, it made no sense. Mhm. >> Um I but I spent a lot of time fighting with Peter about political issues and that made a lot of sense. >> Peter Peter Taylor was in your class at law school at Stanford. >> Yeah. And we were in the same dorm and

[00:41] in the same section and uh we both had um heterogeneous nonconformant views. his leaning to the right, mine more classically, but not completely classically on the left. I spent no time doing anything at there except for reading books and running into people and arguing with them. Peter being the primary one. And so that made a lot later this the Stanford thing really you Stanford is the premier university for tech in the world. It >> it is what connected all of us I guess ultimately in the end. Yeah, >> the [clears throat] Stanford Stanford is a fascinating institution and in and of itself, but it it is the tech university of the world and I didn't think of it that way when I went there. I certainly

[01:31] was not it was not at all part of my thinking. Um, it also made me think I should go do something I wanted to do because I was unhappy there. And what I wanted to do was write about um basically Germanic post-war thought in in whatever field. I didn't really care that much. But I didn't want to do a PhD in the US because that would have meant doing a master's degree and doing three years of regurgitation. It's like I've already done I've already had a three-year bid. >> Got it. >> Like I don't want to, you know, I've I've escaped my three-year bid. I want to go do what I want to do. Um, and and you ended up studying under Hammer Moss. Was that was he somebody you'd studied previously you were

[02:13] excited to work with? >> The longer version is I went over the study with him. I was in his colloquium and I and I studied with him. Then we had a falling out and then I finished my PhD with someone else. Um but the not on bad terms it's just I I I discovered while writing my PhD uh that the stakes were very low and the personalities were very difficult and I also discovered partly by in proximity to him but in proximity to other people who were kind of world class. one meeting with Lumman uh watching debates between Habrams and Apo uh people came to the colloquium and Habas that I had certain abilities they didn't have to like be a builder >> and while I was good enough to be in the room with them and argue with them on

[03:01] where I was a technical expert dedicating myself to reading and writing all day was not what I wanted and they did not seem to understand I I wouldn't have put in these terms cuz I hadn't built anything but they didn't have the right personality for building. >> Yeah. >> Um >> well there's a certain from the business world perspective there's a certain dysfunction to a lot of the smartest academics that they're very good at some things but they can never come out into what we see as the real world. I guess for them that they're in their own real world. >> Yeah this is true. I would say in fairness to people at the level of um like Appel Habas Lumman and others that I ran into Bella came to a speech gave a

[03:39] speech at Harvard. I think they would have succeeded at anything really there there is a yeah there is a level now maybe it would be have to be low on human management but there are entrepreneurs who are low on human management >> they're just so smart they'd figure they'd iterate and figure it out with their wisdom >> the level of talent that um just take Nicholas Lumman who's wouldn't be for the audience is um probably the most important thinker of social thought post World War II uh wrote more than most of us read in a life um and was developed this kind of theory systems theory which was a way of explaining how humans and systems function that basically is if you were only reading one thing you

[04:27] would read this this one of the really important things about working with people at that level is you're working with people at that level there's just a way in which the gears are different. And while I don't think they would build or run Palunteer particularly well, I do think that they could materially advance an institution. They might have to have someone below them who could actually interact with the people, but these are people who are just like when we were, you know, building Palry together, our engineers